We need a counsellor

I am writing to complain about the potential lack of a counsellor in Ilkeston.

For the last ten years or so, my brother and I have been seeing a Dr Swanwick at Ilkeston Community Hospital.

Dr Swanwick provided palliative care for clients at the hospital and Treetops Hospice. Dr Swanwick has now informed us that she is taking a year out and there would be no-one to replace her.

She has provided us with someone to talk to and has helped us understand anything medical that we may be experiencing with her medical knowledge.

Most of the clients who see her are in the last years of their lives and need support.

Although my brother and I don’t quite fall into this group, we have a life-threatening disability where anything can occur at any time and we need someone with medical knowledge that we can talk to about it.

There must be a counsellor in this area who can take up this post, you can’t leave people such as ourselves without support.